Sudan Sentences Security Officers To Jail In Plot

A Sudanese court sentenced six security officers to jail terms of up to eight years on Thursday for their role in an alleged coup attempt against President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, local media said, quoting the security services.

* Verdict is second since the arrests

* All officers dismissed from posts

A Sudanese court sentenced six security officers to jail terms of up to eight years on Thursday for their role in an alleged coup attempt against President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, local media said, quoting the security services.

In November, Sudan arrested its former spy chief Salah Gosh and other senior military and security officers after foiling what the government said was a coup plot.

In the second verdict since the arrests, a security court handed down terms of between two and eight years to six officers, according of a statement of the security apparatus sent to local newspapers and obtained by Reuters.

All the officers were dismissed from the force, while another defendant was acquitted of the charges, the statement said. The officers can appeal the verdict.

Earlier this month, a military court sentenced nine army officers to up to five years for their role in the alleged plot. {ID:nnL5N0CU0P6] Gosh's trial has yet to start.

Bashir has ruled Sudan for 23 years, weathering multiple armed rebellions, years of U.S. trade sanctions, an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court and the loss of most of the country's oil with South Sudan's 2011 secession.